I think it is that there is a lot of value in allowing students to make mistakes in an environment like the Ning where they can make mistakes and learn from them. I was nervous about the Ning component of this project because of the potential for my students to make mistakes on a public site, but if they are never given a chance to really fully participate in real world experiences then how are they ever going to learn how to navigate these experiences successfully.

This short story has really reinforced for me the power of these global collaborative projects, and it’s not over yet. I wonder what other teachable moments and wonderful connections will happen next?

Excellent article on cyberbullying and an example of a girl who was harrassed online and killed herself. This sort of thing is tragic and we should consider what we think aboutinternet harrassment penalties, particularly against children.

There are mention of several websites including one I'd never heard of called CyberBully Alert.

An ex-friend’s mother faces charges in federal court as a result, and Missouri has made Internet harassment a crime.

Cyberbullies often commandeer e-mail accounts and social-networking profiles, attacking kids while pretending to be someone they trust, like a best friend. They use cell phones and the Web to spread embarrassing and cruel material, and they can harass their victims well beyond the schoolyard -- even when they're "safe" at home.

85 percent of 5,000 middle-school students surveyed said they had been cyberbullied. Only 5 percent of them said they’d tell someone about it.

she went to a mental-health clinic

Fake profiles and anonymous screen names are used in 65 percent of cyberbully attacks,

assuming that if they haven’t received a death threat or had a picture of their face posted on a naked body on the Internet, they haven’t been bullied.

They think that’s just part of online life,

Aftab said she knows of three other teens who have committed suicide after cyberbullying attacks, and that the problem is on the rise.

4th graders are especially into blackmail and threatening to tell friends, parents or teachers if the victim doesn’t cooperate.

Cyberbullying peaks in 4th and 7th grade

The most outrageous recent way is through theft of a cell phone for a few minutes," Aftab said. "If your kids leave their cell phone unattended or accessible in their backpack, the cyberbully will take it and send a bunch of bad text messages or reprogram it.”

“This whole password thing freaks people out ... but a good password doesn’t have to be hard to remember, just hard to guess,” Criddle said. “Friends don’t ask friends for passwords.

Article about teachers being filmed and put on youtube -- I did a post a while back called "spies like us" that talks about this happening. Again, talk about behavior to kids before this happens at your school - www.digiteen.net is our effort.